Hidden
by Miss Sinistra
Summary: Hermione is now an Auror in hiding at Hogwarts, posing as the DADA teacher. She was rescued by Snape after Lucius viciously attacked her; what will happen now they are forced to go undercover together?
1. Chapter 1 The Beginning

Obviously, I own none of the original character; they all belong to JK. This applies for the entire story.

Not entirely half blood prince, deathly hallows compliant**

**Chapter One: The Beginning.**

Snape dragged Hermione towards the fireplace in the derelict house; he had his arm tightly around her waist pulling her limp, unconscious body closer towards the fireplace. He kneeled down slowly, resting Hermione in his arms. Snape's usual impenetrable heart was momentarily stopped by the sight of this broken woman's face. He looked down at her; she had deep gashes and bruises on her face, neck and arms. He removed a single golden curl from a cut on her right cheek; he couldn't heal her now, there was no time. The dark professor traced her innocent face admiring where the long lashes of her closed eyes touched the tops of her cheeks and how her pink lips gently parted. Everything went silent, to him; it was like there was nothing else surrounding them. Through the wounds even he could see that since she had left Hogwarts she had grown into a beautiful woman.

He shook his head, he could hear Harry firing stunning spells in the next room to hold off the death eaters in pursuit of them; when loudly; he heard Lucius' deafening voice, scream the 'Avada Kadarva' curse followed by the smash of a window. Snape's chest tightened, he snapped his head towards the other room; had Lucius hit Harry? A couple seconds silence and then he heard Harry's voice calling to him. Snape breathed, Potter was still alive. Confident the two death eaters had been taken out by Harry; Snape called him into the next room whilst throwing the magical powder into the fire place, starting the emerald flames. Harry ran into the fire; blood, deep wounds and lacerations covering his face. Snape carefully shifted Hermione into Harry's arms;

"Go home, now. I'll think of something" Snape growled, his stare intense as the young wizard nodded.

"12 Grimmauld Place" Harry whispered, his gaze moving from Snape's dark eyes back to the emerald fire, before disappearing.

Severus waited for the flames to die down then pointed his wand at his face and muttered a spell which immediately made his face to look like he had been in a heavy bar fight. It felt like it too. He cringed in silent pain as the spell sunk in; Snape looked up at his face in the cracked, rusted mirror above the fireplace; he was covered in blood and bruises, with tears to his robes across his chest. He nodded, pain shooting down his neck; this was the desired effect. He staggered back into the room where Harry had fought the death eaters, only to be met by two unconscious, bloody messes on the floor. Snape scowled at them and their pathetic attempt at attacking; they were adults after all. He had, however, been lucky that neither of them had seen him dragging Hermione to the fireplace otherwise he would have been as good as dead. Severus had always been good at thinking on his feet, he knew how to protect himself – he had been doing this since Harry had been born, 19 years ago. So, he put on his most disdainful face, cringing in pain and revived Lucius and his wife Narcissa with a simple spell.

"Having a nap, are we?" Snape spat as he grabbed Lucius by his collar, dragging him up, internally all of Snape's arm muscles screamed at him to stop. Lucius whelped and held his ribs; Potter had clearly broken a few of them. He was thankful, for once that Potter (he admitted reluctantly to himself), was a good wizard, able to do this kind of damage having just seen what Lucius had done to Hermione. He shivered internally.

Narcissa tried to stand, leaning against the wall;

"Severus I-" But she was cut off by the snarling potions master,

"You're both pathetic. You let two inexperienced aurors get away." Slowly, a wide smirk spread across Severus' face, "The dark lord wouldn't like to hear this, will he?" He let this smoothly roll out of his mouth, threateningly. Snape's eyes sparkled and turned to leave the room; he knew he had the Malfoy's at his bidding.

Seconds later, Harry tumbled out of the fire place into the library at Grimmauld Place, surrounded by Order members. Harry looked around but couldn't see through the blood dripping down his face and knew he was about to faint. He held on until he recognised Hermione's hand in his and so he let himself drift away, knowing he had brought her home safely.


	2. Chapter 2  What Next?

**Chapter 2: What Next?**

Hermione woke to bright sunlight on her face which she found streaming through the white cotton curtains covering the big window to her left. She knew where she was; she was in 'her' room in Grimmauld place only someone must have magically enlarged her bed as it was now a double, not a single. Ginny had probably done it so that she could sit on the side of her bed; well that's what she had done at the end of the second war between the Order and Voldemort at the end of her 7th year.

Hermione looked around her room, everything was normal. Her bed had soft white sheets and was in the centre of the room opposite the door, with the large bay window to her left. She looked at the warm wooden furniture that lined the room, the wardrobe that was next to the door and the side table next to the window. There was a little wooden table next to her bed with a small magical lamp on it. To her right there was another door that went to her small en suite.

Her door creaked open; she immediately relaxed and pretended to sleep. Hermione just wanted to be alone. She shuddered, as she was reminded of what Lucius had done to her, she had never been in so much pain. Hermione didn't want to recall it but her mind forced her to think; the last thing she remembered was a flash of blue light and Harry jumping in front of her.

She rested her head on the pillow and closed her eyes.

"Not today, eh?" She heard Molly say as she gently stroked Hermione's forehead with the back of her hand. "Ginny, dear, go and fetch Professor Snape will you? We need that healing potion again."

"But mum…" Ginny pleaded.

"Ginny, just go." Molly demanded.

Hermione heard Ginny leave the room. The light intensified behind her eyelids as Molly opened the curtains; she was sharply reminded of the blue flash delivered to her by Lucius. Hermione's face cringed just as Snape entered the room which was lucky as it drew attention away from her consciousness.

"Must you send her Molly?" Severus Snape drawled. Molly knew better than to antagonise him and so just settled for an audible sound of disdain.

Snape been the last person she had seen before she was attacked. Snape had looked her directly in to her eyes, momentarily catching her attention resulting in her being slammed into a wall… and then Lucius-

Cold hands took the side of her face and turned it. Hermione instinctively gave a sharp intake of breath at the pain that had shot through her neck from moving her head.

"Hermione?" Molly asked quietly, moving closer to the bed.

Hermione slowly opened her eyes, to her left was Molly looking intently at her face. She tried to smile but the pain in her face stopped her and she just pulled an uncomfortable grin. She then tried to sit up; bracing her arms by her side but a gentle hand touched the top of her arm.

"Don't sit up." A deep voice commanded.

Hermione slowly turned to her right, where Snape was stood,

"Not yet." He was looking at her face, studying it, she wondered what for.

Hermione tried to talk but nothing came out, she tried again but her throat was so dry. She looked at Molly, whose eyes were watering, witnessing Hermione's distress and so she settled to just make a motion for a drink.

"Oh! Of course dear!" Molly took the empty glass from her bedside table and took it out of the room.

She turned to Snape who was preparing something on the dresser next to her window. It smelt amazing, like rain and freshly cut grass. He turned to her and looked slightly surprised to find her staring at him. She began to try to talk again.

"Don't talk, Hermione. You've been unconscious for almost 2 weeks." He paused, "Just… lie still."

He brought over the clear liquid that she had seen him prepare. The smell became stronger – it was still as enticing.

"This is a complex healing potion, it will take away your wounds and remove the scars entirely… well, I hope." He sighed.

Hermione's eyes filled with tears as she lightly touched her face; what if the scars didn't fade?

"No, Hermione… Please don't." The poor witch. Usually he would have found anyone crying, awkward but this felt… different. He wanted to help her. "Hermione, all of the scars of your face have healed so well, another month or so and they should be gone."

Snape lay the potion back down on the dresser and went over to her, and lightly ran his thumb under her eyes to catch her tears. His hands were a little cold but they were smooth, smoother than she would have imagined for a potions master. Hermione sniffed.

"I need you to trust me, Hermione. This potion knits your skin back together and creates new skin on top – it's not going to be pleasant." She looked into his dark, warning eyes and nodded.

He returned to the dresser and brought over the clear liquid and laid it on the side table. Snape took out a cloth from his pocket and poured some of the potion onto it. Snape sighed heavily and asked her to stay still. He took the left side of her face carefully in his protective hand whilst he slowly picked up the cloth in his right. Snape looked deep into her amber eyes that completely trusted him, knowing how much pain she was about to feel.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione." His voice stinging with pain.

Next blinding pain shot through her body, her eyes shut tight and she let out a piercing scream, her body writhed underneath Snape's hand. Molly burst into the room accompanied by Sirius.

"Severus?" Sirius shouted.

Snape was smoothly tracing each scar with the cloth. He looked up at Molly, avoiding Sirius' glare, with sincere pain in his eyes;

"We have to." He nodded at Molly who took up position next to Hermione.

"Hold my hand if you like, dear." She offered to Hermione who limply took her hand, unable to grip it properly; Molly held on tight. Sirius backed up against the wall.

Severus sighed again,

"Not long now."

And he brought the cloth back to a smaller scar above her lip.


	3. Chapter 3 Half Of The Story

**Chapter 3: Half of the story**

Long after Hermione had fallen asleep due to the exhaustion of the pain, Snape lightly opened the door of her room. He walked in and sat at her side.

The moonlight from the gap in the curtains landed on her face, outlining all of her features. His dark eyes flashed as she slowly turned her face away from the window exposing her white neck; the moonlight caught one of her jagged scars. Snape took a closer look; It looked… like a bite mark! What exactly had Lucius done to her!

He sighed and reluctantly recalled the evening;

The Order were to attack the Dementor's nest, where 4 of the more powerful Death Eaters were meeting to transport Dementor's back to Voldemort's place of hiding, Severus was one of the four but of course he was on the Order's side.

The Order attacked successfully, immediately bringing Fenrir Greyback under their control. They attacked a couple of days after the full moon – when werewolves were at their weakest, that's why Lupin wasn't fighting. Fenrir's fighting had become sloppy and slow which made him easy to subdue. Severus had told the other death eaters that The Dark Lord had commanded him to keep the Dementor's under control if anything went wrong. This kept him out of the way and out of suspicion as to why his aim, in regards to attacking the order was so bad or why the Order just miraculously kept missing him.

Sirius and Harry were fighting Narcissa, whilst Mcgonagoll and Fenrir lay unconscious under a fallen beam. Hermione was fighting off Lucius, quite spectacularly when Hermione looked up, just for a second, to meet Snape's gaze.

"SECTUMSEMPRA!" Lucius shouted.

Her golden curls spun as she moved her head around to look at the blonde Death Eater, just before the curse hit her. Her face was a mixture of shock and fear as Hermione's frail body was thrown backwards into the wall with such force that her head left a small blood trail to where she lay slowly moving on the floor. Snape looked over to her damaged form wanting to go and help her but his cover would be blown – he admitted to himself, he hadn't felt this torn since Lily. His chest felt like it was about to cave in as he saw Lucius dragging Hermione away, screaming, by her collar into the next room.

Harry looked at Snape who quickly took a look around – seeing that Narcissa was occupied, he pointed to the room in which Lucius had dragged Hermione and mouthed 'Get Hermione.' Harry's face dropped and he bolted into the next room. Narcissa saw him and swiftly defeated Sirius, as his Godfather took a cursory glance at his Godson. With that Narcissa ran into the other room to join her husband. From his doorway two rooms away he could see that both Narcissa and Lucius were now fighting Harry.

The torn professor looked around the room, there was a door to his right behind some heavy boxes – he had been to the Dementor's lair before and knew this door would lead him to the back of the room Harry was now in so that the other Death Eaters wouldn't see him rescuing Hermione. Snape had no time to think what he would do next so he raised his wand to the boxes and silently obliterated them. He stole into the hallway; hexes and curses were coming from the doorway in Harry's room. Severus crept down the hallway; he could see a small figure against the wall opposite the door. He stepped closer making sure to stay out of the Death Eater's sight line, suddenly he found himself grabbing at the wall as his chest tightened. In the darkness he could see Hermione's unconscious body lying in a pool of blood against the wall opposite the doorway. Snape got on his knees, his stomach twisted violently; she must be dead. But then in the darkness he saw her head move and a feint murmur from her lips – that was enough for him. He checked the dark room where the fight was just in time to dodge a curse from Narcissa and saw both death eaters had their backs to him. He darted across the doorway and grabbed Hermione. Everything that happened next seemed to occur in a heartbeat; Severus looked at Harry, caught his eye, pointed down the hallway then Harry nodded.

With that Snape gently grabbed Hermione's waist, picked her up and took her to the fireplace where he waited until Harry joined him taking Hermione back to Grimmauld Place.

He had to do some pretty quick thinking that night, which luckily only resulted in the Cruciatus curse for 10 long, long minutes. It was worth it though, she was safe.

He winced at the thought of her pain and looked down at the young witch; he was impressed with what she had accomplished with her life. Both Hermione and Potter were the youngest Aurors, ever at the age of 19 after one years training.

Hermione was to be employed at Hogwarts as of this September, not only as the DADA professor and head of Gryffindor, but as protection for the castle. The ministry had began placing its most trusted Aurors in important places to protect the wizarding world, Hermione was one of them.

Snape was broken from his thoughts when Hermione rolled over, in doing so her hand landed on his. He looked down; even her hands were scarred but they were still so gentle. He ran his thumb over one of the scars, she shivered. He sighed, he'd never been warm, inside and out.

It was late and he needed to sleep. He slowly moved Hermione's hand from his and left the room.


	4. Chapter 4 Wake Up

_**Brilliantsunshinewarrior12:**_ Thank you! It's much appreciated. New chapters to come!

_**Heidi**_**:** Thank you so much for pointing that out, I've amended it.

_**Megan Consoer: **_Coming now! More to come

_**Snapeisalive: **_Thank you! This means so much to me, particularly as this is my first ever fanfic.

**Chapter 4: Wake Up**

Hermione liked it when it rained and it was dark and cold. She liked the feeling of being safe and warm inside a house. She had gotten up at 10am in her dark room, unable to put up with the boredom of just lying in bed, tossing and turning. She showered and got dressed in dark jeans and a white cotton t-shirt then left her room.

Hermione stepped into the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, everyone involved in the noises of the morning. It hadn't changed; it was still rather a small space with cupboards lining the walls and a cooker at the end of the kitchen. The majority of the space was taken up by the long, dark wooden table, able to comfortably fit the entire Order around it. The table must have been as old as the house itself. Everyone was sat around it; everyone except Snape but that didn't surprise her.

"Hermione!" Ron shouted, causing the whole room to go silent and turn to look at her.

She was met by smiles, luckily. Hermione had been afraid that people would look at her with fear - She still hadn't got the courage to look in the mirror at her marred body; she hadn't turned on the light this morning and had also covered her mirrors with a darkening spell.

Harry and Ron ran towards her and hugged her. She hissed as they crushed in on her wounds – they immediately let go of her.

"Oh, god, sorry Hermione," Apologised Ron.

Hermione held the end of the table for a few seconds to clear her head from the pain and sat down to breakfast. She was sat across from Luna who had, in recent months became a fully fledged member of the Order.

As she sat down Luna looked up from her Quibbler,

"Hello Hermione," she said airily "I'm glad you're awake. The narks have gone now."

Hermione knew better than to ask what they were, so she just agreed and thanked her. Picking up her Daily Prophet, she saw that the front page was still covered in stories about the second attack on the Ministry by the Death Eaters. That had been almost a month ago now– luckily the Order had Snape and they knew it was coming. The Order had suffered but the attack was subdued successfully.

Hermione had just finished her toast when Molly turned to her from the oven,

"Hermione, you need to see Professor Snape, for that healing potion, best to get it over and done with now. Remember the meeting in an hour."

Hermione re-called the pain that had made her skin crawl and all her muscles tense; her body completely incapacitated through the pain that forced her writhing.

She finished the tea that had been passed to her and concluded that she'd have to go through the pain; after all she really didn't want the scars and so she reluctantly stood to go downstairs.

Hermione knocked on the dark door of the basement, where Snape had taken up residence.

"Enter" she heard Snape command. The tone in his voice made her shiver but she didn't know why.

Snape's heart stopped as he saw his favourite person peek around the door as he looked up from his potions lab-desk. He wished he's had more time to clean himself up more.

Hermione had never seen him like this, his dress robes were slightly unbuttoned at the top and she could see where his neck met his chest. It was a nice sight. His sleeves were rolled up to just below his elbow that allowed her the view of his tensed, lower arms; his hair was messy and in his face.

"Professor, I was sent down by Molly. She said I -" Hermione paused, "She said…" unable to finish the sentence due to the recollection of the pain. She took a deep breath,

"She said you need to give me that healing potion again."

Snape looked up at her for a few seconds; like he was thinking and then he nodded once.

"Yes, of course. Would you sit in here, please?" He gestured into his office.

Hermione stepped into the dark room; it was quite small. To the left of the room was his desk which had numerous case-study folders on it, along with old quills. On the right was a cupboard that had a variety of ingredients in, some she had only seen in the more complex potions books. That too looked disordered. There was a long chair in the centre of the room, rather like a dentist's chair but older. At the back of the room, there was a bookcase as high as the ceiling and nearly as long as the wall itself. Hermione went over to it, admiring the titles. Some of them were extremely rare. She lightly touched the binding of one on the shelf entitled; 'Potions for the greater good by –' Hermione gasped at the author's name.

Severus looked up from where he was preparing her healing potion,

"Miss Granger?" Snape rose and glided over to the shelf.

Hermione could feel his heavy robes through the thin, white cotton t-shirt she had on. She closed her eyes as her heart began to race but why? She wasn't _attracted _to him was she? No. He was just an ex-teacher, soon to be colleague.

"Is this real?" Hermione questioned, pointing at the 'Potions for greater good' book.

"Well, yes Miss Granger, you can see it can't you?" he smirked. He knew exactly what she meant but he enjoyed playing with the younger ones. It was a step up from the usual bullying the youngest ones got.

"Professor, is it really written by-"

"Godric Gryffindor? Yes it was it is one of only 5 copies."

Snape would never admit a book by a Gryffindor was one of his favourites but it had been one of his most used potion books since he acquired it almost 10 years ago.

Snape brushed his arm past Hermione's shoulder as he went to take the large book down from the shelf. Carefully holding it in his arms he took it over to his desk where he magically vanished all the folders on it. He laid it down, the cover making a small bang as it hit the desk,

"Granger, you may look at it now under my supervision whilst I prepare your potion. Do not get a scratch on it."

His glare was intense and sincere but for those few seconds Hermione was able to admire his eyes and as she looked back down at the historic book she couldn't read. All she could focus on the way he had looked at her with his dark, black eyes that seemed to search her soul every time they made contact. Although he didn't wish they were so sad.

Hermione looked down at one of the pages entitled; "The Limb Replacement Potion" surrounding the page was intelligent notes such as, "Use four strands of unicorn hair, not 3." Snape had actually corrected Godric's work. Amazing.

"Granger? It's ready."

Why did Snape sound… apologetic? Why did he care if she was in pain? He had hated her since he laid eyes on her in her first year.

He took the clear potion to his cabinet and laid it down,

"Now, would you sit here" He pointed to the dentist-like chair in the centre of the room.

Hermione reluctantly closed the book reading the last note of the page entitled, "The Helium Potion." The note read, "This is a useless potion" and made her way to the chair. She hopped into it gracefully and lay back.

"Do you mind if I move the head-rest back a little? It helps me get to the scars of your neck better." He said with his back to her as he made the final adjustments to the potion.

"Sure" she paused "Profes-" Snape cut her off.

"You are no longer a student, you are my colleague – please call me by my first name and I will you call you by yours" he asked.

"Yes, Severus" Hermione replied gently.

Something about the way she obeyed him and the way she said his name stirred up a feeling inside of him. It wasn't a feeling he should have for a colleague – but he shook the feeling out of his mind.

"What was it you were going to say?" Severus asked.

"I was just going to- … Prof- I mean, Severus. Is this going to hurt as much as it did last time?"

"Probably not, the more you heal the less it hurts." Hermione looked up at him, was that a smile? Did Snape smile?

She didn't have time to think that over as Snape moved the neck rest back a little, which caused her neck to arch, fully exposing it to him. She liked this vulnerability – she felt her heart speed up slightly and her breathing deepen, something she knew only happened when she was turned on.

"_What? Why do I feel like this for him?"_ Hermione thought.

Snape looked down at her pale neck, her eyes closed and her mouth gently parted letting her deep breaths in and out. She was truly beautiful. Snape took the side of her neck in his hand whilst slowly taking his thumb across the front; Hermione gasped and gripped the chair handles tightly. Snape's smirk curled into a smile – she was enjoying this.

Hermione could feel his hand on her neck, his fingers wrapped around the side was enough to send her mind racing. But what she really wanted was for him to squeeze… to strangle her, ever so slightly, to make her feel more vulnerable. She tried to ignore the feeling, this wasn't about getting laid, this was about healing her probably ruined form.

"Hermione, I am going to put a silencing charm within the room so we don't disturb the others upstairs, okay?"

Hermione nodded and thought

"_Great, so that means I am going to scream, which means this is going to hurt. A lot."_

Severus warded the room and picked up a small cloth, dabbing some of the clear, healing potion onto it and swiftly applied it to her wounds.

Hermione's back arched as the pain seared through her body, the cloth touched her neck, her hands gripping the arms of the chair. Her eyes were shut tight as she let out a pained scream as she felt her old wounds healing.

5 minutes later, Snape stopped. He looked at Hermione as she lay there with her eyes open, looking at the ceiling. He watched her closely, her breathing was deep, she must have been trying to calm herself down.

"Hermione?" he whispered. She slowly turned her head to him, blinking slowly.

"I'm not quite finished." Hermione's face was full of pain and her breathing picked up again. "I'm sorry I can't help the pain, this potion blocks out all other anaesthetics. But I only have to do your hands now; it shouldn't hurt as much because they weren't that deep."

Hermione just nodded. Snape restarted the process but this time she didn't scream or move, she just jumped whenever he touched her. Hermione, this time, was able to concentrate on what the potion was doing rather than being blinded by the pain.

As she looked at her hand she saw the scars fading before her eyes. She even saw one scar on top of her right hand wrist disappear entirely.

"We're done for now. For today" Snape looked

Hermione stayed still until her breathing became normal then she slowly sat up. She looked up at the Professor who hadn't moved since he'd finished; he looked back at her as one solitary tear ran down her cheek. He instinctively moved his hand to her face but he stopped it mid air. Hermione looked at him,

"It's okay." She said softly, almost a whisper, "I don't want it there anyway."

With that she took his hand and raised it her face. Snape wiped the tear away with his thumb but instead of bringing his hand down to his side and getting up, like he should have, he held the side of her face in his hand just looking into her eyes. They were a beautiful; they shined bright amber; on the outside they were lighter and more yellow but towards the centre they were darker with black flourishes. They seemed so deep, she looked happy.

Hermione stared back into his black eyes and blinked. She raised her hand to his arm and rested it there. He was looking into her eyes like they were something completely new but she felt completely calm with him staring at her.

It clicked in Hermione's mind. He was amazing. He was everything. Her eyes watered as the realisation hit her. Then Snape sharply pulled his hand away,

"Am I hurting you? I didn't realise…" He looked down. Hermione touched his hand,

"No, you weren't. I was…" She stopped.

"You were what?" His eyebrow rose at her.

"Nothing I was being Silly." She looked down.

In Snape's mind he wanted to lightly push her chin up so she would look at him, so he could tell her whatever she was thinking she could tell him. He wouldn't love her any less for whatever it was.

"_Wait, you don't love her. So don't say you do." _His mind told him. Snape had boarded up his heart long ago after Lily had died.

The moment had passed anyway; she looked at him and then got up.

"Severus, it's almost 11, we have to go upstairs to the meeting." Hermione sighed.

She walked out into the potions lab, recalling what had just been going through her mind.

There had been a moment when his eyes had shined and all she had wanted to do was to lightly press her lips to Severus', nothing more; just a simple kiss to determine whether the reason for her heart racing was the dark potions master or just the after effects of the potion.

"Hermione?" He called her, "Would you like to borrow this?"

She walked back into the little office, Severus was pointing at the potions book that Gryffindor had written. Hermione stammered over her words;

"Severus I- …Wow, yes, I'd love to." She moved towards the desk as he handed her the book.

They were close now; Hermione took the book and laid it on the desk. She decided she needed to know the reason for her erratic heart beat. She stepped a little closer to him so that they were stood less than an arms length apart.

Snape looked at the fragile witch, she was making it perfectly clear to him what she wanted but he felt inadequate to kiss such a beautiful person. He froze, just looking into her face.

"Severus?" she whispered

Snape's throat had gone dry; he had forgotten how to talk. He cleared his throat,

"Yes" His voice shook as his heart raced to his throat.

Hermione gently leaned up to his ear and whispered,

"Kiss me." It hadn't been a question, Snape acknowledged that.

"SEVERUS, HERMIONE! UPSTAIRS NOW, WE'RE WAITING!" bellowed Molly's magically enhanced voice.

They both took a small glance at each other, both parties disappointed.

Snape quickly took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. Hermione and Snape both confirmed what they had both wondered in their minds. Hermione opened her eyes when he pulled away; he looked at her and smiled.

They then left the dungeon and went to the meeting with their secret. This, however, was to turn out to be a _very _important meeting.


	5. Chapter 5 The Meeting

_**2angelwings**_: I look forward to writing the rest!

**Chapter 5: The Meeting.**

Hermione took up her allotted seat at the magically extended table in the drawing room and sat next to Harry. Dumbledore was of course at the head of the table, looking whiter than ever; the war was starting to drain him but as history tells he courageously continued on, well, he had no choice.

"Now that all of you are here" He took a cursory glance at Snape and Hermione "I wish to bring you all to the highest attention."

No-one at the table needed to be asked for Dumbledore's attention when he spoke, particularly at meetings during these times. Albus' face displayed no sign of light-heartedness; his more commonly soft, warm eyes had become serious and unrelenting.

"The ministry, as you are all aware are placing its Auror's within and near the school's walls; thankfully they are Hermione and Harry. Now, the ministry is working closely with me to keep everything safe at Hogwarts and obviously, I will be passing on everything I know to you."

Lupin cleared his throat,

"Albus, the wizarding world knows all about the 'Golden Trio' and so, if you agree to place both Harry and Hermione within the walls of the school the parents will immediately begin to worry."

Lupin looked around for support, some were nodding,

"I mean, we can't deny that Harry is a magnet for Voldemort. Are parents going to want him there?"

A few of the Order nodded.

"A good point; I've spoken to Cornelius about this exact topic and that is why Harry will be posted at the school's borders away from the knowledge of the students and parents. Hermione however will be taking up the post of Defence against the Dark Arts Professor, after Umbridge… reluctantly resigned from it, last year."

A few of the order laughed. Harry stood,

"So, I'm to stay on the perimeter. That's fine but only one Auror in Hogwarts? One?"

Albus looked down,

"This is where Cornelius throws his weight. He thinks that if there's more Auror's at Hogwarts it makes it more of a target. Personally I think Voldemort has other plans, he's realised the power centre is no longer at Hogwarts – but the ministry itself. I cannot overthrow the ministry, especially not with its own employees." Albus looked towards to two young Auror's who were about to take on their biggest task yet; defending Hogwarts.

The Order made a general noise of agreement.

"Cornelius has however informed me that should a suspected attack be imminent, he will reinforce the Auror's at Hogwarts."

Hermione wrote down the words, "well I'm fucked" on her paper and handed it to Harry who chuckled.

However Hermione nodded in fake agreement with Albus' statement, the ministry had all the power and even though Cornelius may not have been thinking in the right frame of mind at least he had agreed to reinforce, should it be needed. She couldn't lie to herself, she was nervous.

She bit her lip, lightly and as she looked up from her paper she caught Severus' eyes. He had one light finger on his bottom lip, looking lustfully at the corner of her bottom lip which was caught between her teeth, she slowly let it go and she saw him exhale, closing then reopening his eyes slowly as he did. Suddenly he coughed quite loudly raising his hand to his mouth then he met her gaze. Hermione felt the whole room slow, her lips parted; she bit her lip again and broke the gaze. She looked down again as Albus began to talk again,

Severus had rudely, looked inside her mind at that moment when she bit her lip. He loved it when she did that – it made her into a completely different person. He couldn't control it, he just looked. And in that second he saw a very vivid picture of what had happened down in the basement earlier, when he'd kissed her. He felt her emotions and… he felt her arousal. He shifted in his seat as he dove a little deeper. He unlocked a more recent memory, it was him. He was in it. He choked suddenly, causing him to cough quite audibly raising a few odd looks from the people around him. He had seen something quite explicit. It was him and Hermione; she had been holding the edge of his desk while he was positioned behind her, one arm around her waist, his other arm reaching up to her chest where he was gripping her breast as he violently thrusted into her. He heard her scream his name as she threw her head back. He had to leave her mind before someone noticed him. He exhaled slowly, calming himself down. He was lucky he had worn his longer robes today as they could skilfully hide his impressive erection. He looked back at her and saw her look to Albus as he began to talk.

"With that, I bring this short meeting to a conclusion in that Hermione Granger will be posted at Hogwarts as of the beginning of the September school term, next week as DADA professor. Harry Potter will be posted in Hogsmeade to be ready at any time to defend the school."

Everyone nodded.

"Then I close this meeting." With that Dumbledore disapparated leaving everyone very confused.

Molly got up to cut the silence that was left by Dumbledore's swift exist,

"Well, the food is done – if you would all move to the kitchen we can begin."

Everyone quickly got up, clearly they were all hungry. In the rush Hermione's notes fell to the floor and by the time she had collected them, the room was empty, except for one person.

"Professor Granger" that familiar voice stated.

Hermione stood up; her stance portrayed a new found importance within herself.

"Yes, Professor Snape?" she replied.

"Come here, now." He demanded

Hermione stood, frozen to the spot, smiling naughtily. He had never spoken to her like this before. He had commanded things of her back in school but they never had this demanding tone behind them. It was the kind of way she liked to be talked to… the kind of way she liked being treated if she was in the bedroom.

Hermione shook her head and walked towards the door, directly disobeying Severus but he slammed it before she had a chance to walk out.

He had her up against the door now, one arm over her shoulder with his hand on the door, the other arm at her waist.

"Severus, I know what you did." Hermione paused, "You read my mind," She looked at him, her eyes flashing.

"Then maybe you'd prefer this," as quickly as he said that he spun her around so that she was leaning against the door and he had her exactly as he had seen in her mind but both his arms were at her waist not wanting to push her to far, yet. He moved her hair from her neck and kissed it, hard. He heard her moan quietly as she took one of his hands up to her chest and rested it on her left breast.

"There, just right." She breathed.

Her hands that had been flat against the door were now clenched in fists. Hermione could feel his hard erection against her back. She decided that she would play with him; after all he had always been the one with the power.

She used the gap between her arm length and the door to leave. She made a quick movement for the door and a quick dash; she was too fast for Severus to hold onto her. She turned in the hallway to give him a naughty look and ran to the kitchen.

Severus stood in the drawing room doorway with his fists clenched. He was taking her, tonight.


	6. Chapter 6 The Bite

_A massive thank you to everyone who has favourited or reviewed this story! It means so much to me _

**Sorry this is so short!**

**Chapter 6: The bite.**

Hermione stepped out of the shower and decided it was time; she had to look in the mirror. She stepped into the dark room, lit only by moonlight and tapped the lamp with her wand which dimly lit the room.

Hermione could immediately think of hundreds of things she 'needed' to do. She needed to prep for her upcoming classes, call the ministry to sort out her cover with the other Auror's, talk to Ginny about that… thing? No, she knew that all of those things could wait.

Still naked, she stepped to the side of the mirror lifting her wand slightly and with one flick the mirror reflected the room again. Hermione took a deep breath and stepped into the reflection. Her eyes immediately filled with tears as she looked at her scarred body, she took a deep breath to hold back the tears. Her upper-body was covered in white stripes; her lower arms showed only one or two small, white lines curving round her arms, she saw one small line just to the side of her naval and another across the right side of her chest. Hermione turned around to look at her back where there was a long white line on her left side that ran from her shoulder to her elbow. She raised her hand to her mouth in shock and turned back to the mirror, stepping closer to take a look at her face. She touched the tear that fell past the tiny scar just under her right eye, taking care to notice another that ran into her lip from above it.

She took in her whole body again and turned away. She had never felt so ugly.  
Hermione went into her side draw and took out her favourite black underwear; she slid into it hoping that it would make her feel good again when she returned to the mirror. Looking at herself in the mirror she had to force herself to look at her scars when she noticed something bigger on her neck. The light was too dim to see it properly so she rushed into the bathroom where the light was brighter and exposed her neck to the mirror and undoubtedly etched on her skin was a bite mark.

Hermione immediately began hyperventilating as she gripped onto the sink. She flew over to the toilet and threw up into it. Her head felt light and the room began to spin then all she remembered was darkness.


	7. Chapter 7 Explanation

Guys, this is going to be a long story. I hope you're ready!

**Chapter 7: Explanation**

Hermione woke up the next day laying on the floor, curled up and a little cold having not got properly dressed the night before. It was very dark in the little bathroom but she knew it was morning because she could see a little ray of sunlight coming from under the door.

She put her hands on the floor to pull herself up and found them in a puddle of something wet, she assumed it was, quite gracefully, vomit – but it didn't really smell of anything, which was odd. She needed to get her wand to clean this all up. Holding onto the side of the bath she pulled herself up and went into her bedroom and turned on the light.

Hermione froze as she looked in the mirror. Her hands, mouth and torso were covered in blood. She looked into the bathroom which was lit by the light from her room – there was blood everywhere; on the toilet, on the floor, on the sink and on the bath. She stopped for a second, if she had lost this much blood she wouldn't have been able to stand. So where had it come from? She rushed back to the mirror but couldn't find any cuts or wounds.

Then terrified, in the reflection of the mirror, behind her, she saw Lupin's body lying lifeless on the floor. She screamed and collapsed to the floor, sobbing. She must have done this; but when?

Molly was first to her room, she saw Lupin and Hermione on the floor,

"Hermione! What-" Her words caught in her mouth as she realised the true extent of the horror inside the little bedroom. She flicked her wand at Hermione and immediately she was dressed just as Harry, Ron, Sirius and Snape arrived followed by Ginny.

Sirius and Harry ran to Lupin. Harry performed some spells as Hermione looked around the room dazed, everything moving in slow motion. Snape had looked at Lupin's wounds then swiftly left, probably to prepare healing potions for him whilst Ginny clung to Ron who just stood still in the door way, unable to move.

Molly sat Hermione on the bed,

"Ron, come here. Sit with her – I have to ring St. Mungo's." She too ran out of the room with Ginny as Ron stiffly walked towards the blank staring Hermione.

Snape had left Grimmauld Place and apparated directly to the Malfoy's house. Banging on the door, Narcissa answered,

"Where is your husband?" he spat. Narcissa was taken aback; she had never seen him like this. Whatever it was; Snape was angry. She stepped aside and just said, 'Drawing Room.'

Snape ran to Lucius, locking the door and warding the room with a silencing charm.

"YOU BIT HER, DIDN'T YOU?" He bellowed.

Lucius turned to Severus, not looking all that bothered,

"Well Severus, I can't imagine-"

"I SAW THE BITE MARKS ON HER NECK." He interrupted.

"Okay Severus," he smirked, "Maybe I did, but she was so… delicious." He laughed.

Anger seared through Snape's body, he just wanted to kill Lucius… but he knew better than that. That was the east way out. He knew a more torturous way of dealing with him

"If the dark lord knows you have let your secret go he will not be pleased. The Order is going to know that you're a vampire. How have we got any leverage now?" Snape lied; he just wanted to scream at Lucius for damaging Granger.

"I'm sure he won't mind that I attacked a mudblood. Anyway she's dead now." He poured himself and Severus a firewhiskey.

"Lucius she isn't dead." Lucius face went white. "She attacked the Werewolf."

"W…what? You mean she's a…" He trailed off as he slumped into his armchair near the fire. He was in trouble.

"She woke up this morning having attacked Lupin in the night. I don't think she had any recollection."

"But Severus," he pleaded, "You won't tell Lord Voldemort, will you?" He looked desperate.

"Not unless I want to." Having seen the horrified expression on Lucius' face he apparated back to Grimmauld Place; once again he had the Malfoy's under his thumb. He considered the fear he had just struck into Malfoy and deemed this punishment enough.

Hermione was sat staring ahead of her; what had she done? How had she done it? She blinked and looked at Ron who was studying her face.

"You need to shower Hermione." She had heard him but she couldn't move.

Molly entered the room,

"Hermione, dear, Lupin is going to be okay, well probably." Hermione looked at Molly, she couldn't even cry because of the shock that had set into her but instead she managed to choke out,

"What happened to him? I don't even know how…" She trailed of as she whispered.

"I think you'd better shower, Dumbledore wants to speak with you." Hermione's face dropped, she was in an incredible amount of trouble.

She managed to lift herself into the bathroom which someone had cleaned. She showered then re-dressed in clean clothes. When she left the bathroom only Molly was waiting for her; she came towards her and embraced her.

"Hermione, whatever happened, it's going to be okay."

"Molly, I nearly killed someone." Hermione couldn't meet her eyes.

"Dumbledore is going to explain everything to you if you just come downstairs." It was then that the tears started, she found her uncontrollably crying, holding onto the wall. All of a sudden she was overtaken by this incredible, inhuman rage and she screamed,

"HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?" Hermione's throat was on fire.

Molly's face was a mixture of a fear and the motherly need to protect Hermione. She stood breathing deeply as she tried to calm herself down.

With that Snape and Dumbledore came into the room at their full, imposing height. Hermione still found that the burning rage, which took over her whole body, was still present.

"Hermione, you need to come with myself and Professor Snape now."

With that Dumbledore took both Snape and Hermione's arms and apparated.

They found themselves in a large field; Hermione had no idea where she was or why. Dumbledore conjured 3 chairs and a large tent. He gestured inside. Snape stepped inside, followed by Hermione then Dumbledore.

When they had sat down Dumbledore looked at Hermione and plainly said,

"Hermione, you're a vampire."

She stared at him,

"Excuse me."

He repeated himself adding,

"Severus informed me that when you and the Order went to the Dementor's nest and Lucius attacked you, he bit your neck." Hermione nodded in understanding, it had been the only scar that refused to heal.

She had now gone into rational mode; she had no time to worry now. She needed to know how to deal with this – the panic can come later.

"How do I control myself?"

"As you gain more experience with this you'll control it more. When you change a vampire gains large wings and of course, the teeth. That is the only thing that will change about you… of course apart from your need to drink."

"But I didn't control my transformation last night." Hermione offered,

"You must have been angry about something. Anger can cause an unwilling change." Albus explained.

"I blacked out, will that always happen?" Hermione whispered

"No. That only happens with the lesser experienced vampires."

Hermione sat there taking everything in, completely silent. Then something occurred to her,

"How long do I live for?" She was terrified of the answer,

"Provided you don't get killed, you have the normal life-span of a human."

Hermione breathed again, she knew that living forever was a dream of some people's but not hers. She didn't want to watch everyone she knew grow old and eventually die around her.

"If I might, headmaster, the reason I am here Miss Granger is because I can offer a potion that would speed along your development as a… vampire," he paused "It will help you to control yourself, it will stop you from blacking out. You just have to take it once a week."

Hermione nodded. Then guilt filled her,

"What about Lupin?"

Her eyes filled with tears,

"He's going to be fine, luckily you didn't attack with venom the fact that he's also a werewolf helped to block out anything poison that may have entered his system." Severus replied.

"I can't go back there, not after what I've done." Hermione felt a space in her chest and it hurt.

"Hermione, it wasn't your fault this happened to you." Albus replied, looking at her with his most sincere eyes.

Severus stepped outside of the tent to get to air whilst Dumbledore continued explaining everything to Hermione. He had seen her fragile body breaking on the inside and out but he still loved her. Snape looked down recalling the previous day and how everything had been so normal until this. He shook his head, now he would never have a chance with the beautiful witch.

Dumbledore and Hermione stepped out of the tent interrupting his thinking; once they had vanished the tent and chair they returned to Grimmauld Place. Albus had a lot to explain to everyone.


	8. Chapter 8 School

Hey everyone! Thank you all for reviews and everything! Sorry for the long gap! But I am officially back and will be updating at least once a day!

**Chapter 8: School**

It had been a rough week for Hermione; she had been confined to her room whilst Severus fed her potions that sped up her process whilst Albus cast complicated spells over her. She had become stronger now able to control herself and her anger. She had learnt how to change when she wanted to.

Hermione looked up into the mirror in her quarters at Hogwarts and for the first time in a while she smiled. The scars had almost completely faded – you could only see them if you were right up close. She had Severus to thank for that.  
Her eyes closed for a second and remembered the last time Severus had administered the potion. When he had finished running the cloths over her scars he then run his hands over he skin lightly. The potion only caused a weak tingle now instead of the excruciating pain she had previously been in. His smooth hands on her skin cause hr heart to race and her cheeks to blush – she had sworn she saw him smirk before he pulled his hand away. What did that mean? Was he just playing? Or did he mean more?

She decided not to think on it as she left her room for the Great Hall.

Severus waited nervously at the table in the Great Hall; his experience at hiding his emotions worked to his advantage, no-one could tell. He wore his usual scowl. He was thinking about Hermione and how he could feel his attraction growing. He saw her walking towards the table down the centre of the great hall. Heads turned as this beautiful witch floated closer to him.  
Professor Granger wore a knee length black pencil skirt with a tucked in white shirt, over which she wore a dark blue robe cloak. The 5 inch black heels she wore accentuated her legs and made her taller. Severus swallowed. She was truly a modern witch – he had never seen any teacher dress like this before. It was completely sexy but at the same time entirely appropriate for school.

His chest tightened as she sat down next to him, she looked at him, smiled then turned towards the crowds of students.

"Professor Granger?" Severus asked in his slow, low voice.

"Professor Snape" She returned, "I trust you got to Hogwarts safely?" She flashed him a flirtatious smile as she rested her hand on his thigh.

He leaned into her so that he whispered into her ear,

"Granger, seeing as you've recovered now I was hoping you would join me in my quarters later, for a drink." He looked out towards the crowds of children, a lot of whom were looking at them. He gave them his typical glare and they turned away sharply in fear.

He hadn't asked her, he had commanded her, seeing as most of the thoughts that went through her head about that. He felt her hand squeeze the inside of his thigh lightly – Snape took this as a yes. His fists clenched on the table as she her hand ran over his leg, so he could control himself.

Hermione pulled her hand away as Minerva sat down next to her and began telling her about the dangers of a new spell that Transfigured people into other people without the use of Polyjuice potion but all she could think about was Severus; he had been very direct. She didn't want to think about it too much but it had turned her on – even more than Harry had and she thought he had been amazing in bed.

The sorting process was so different watching it from the top table instead of the house tables. She didn't know any of the children this year but there had been more Ravenclaw's than ever. Hermione and Severus quietly agreed this was a good thing; they would listen and learn better in class. The evening came to a close and Hermione's stomach twisted. She was… nervous?

She excused herself from the table when Severus took her wrist and pulled her back.

"You have 20 minutes." Without even looking back at her he turned to his left side to talk to Hagrid.

Hermione's heart raced as she entered her quarters. She wanted him, the centre of her body felt drawn to him and not just physically. But that could wait all that was going through her mind was him, pinning her down, kissing her neck….

She looked into her wardrobe and picked out her favourite underwear – it was, quite appropriately emerald green with black lace which she thought would drive him insane when he saw it.

Hermione looked in the mirror. She had long, perfect legs that held up an olive toned figure with slight curves. Her golden, flowing hair fell just over her shoulders. She admired her underwear in the mirror – the jet-black bra accentuated and pushed together her breasts whilst her black laced, French boxers hugged her curves perfectly, sitting just at the bottom of her waist. She decided that she looked perfect and returned into the clothes she had worn to the Sorting Process minus the robe; the secret she wore underneath her normal clothes left her proud and confident. Nodding at herself, she left for the dungeons.

Hermione knocked on the door,

"Enter" she heard the familiar voice drawl

Hermione walked into the classroom and found it empty, she walked towards the back door that lead to his quarters and entered. The atmosphere of the dungeons already had her ready for him; her mind forced her to remember the countless thoughts she had had of him in this room. She decided that she'd had enough of him being the dominating one as he had been earlier in the great hall (and in her mind), she was going to take control starting now.

She stepped into his quarters to find him a couple of steps away from the wall to her left. She looked at him as he raised an eyebrow taking in her body,

"Miss Granger." He was stopped as Hermione pushed him back into the wall and with a glare she threatened,

"Professor Granger or Hermione; I am not one of your students, Snape." He looked at her and smirked, his hands moving down to her ass, resting gently on both cheeks. Hermione gasped.

"My, My Professor Granger you have gotten confident since I last saw you." He whispered into her ear. Her hands that were against the wall moved to his chest where they grabbed his robes.

Hermione rested her head on his chest with her eyes closed then looked up.

He spun her around and pushed her hard into the wall putting his hand around her neck.

"I have seen exactly what goes on in your head… I know that you'd like this," his hand tightened just a little around her neck. As he looked up her eyes connected with his in the most intense way she had ever looked at him. He felt his penis harden as her eyes displayed only want for him. Snape loosened the grip and stepped back.

"A drink, Professor?" he asked

As he walked away Hermione grabbed his wrist and pulled him back to her. He had looked at her so deeply that she had decided she had to have him now. Hermione looked at him – it was her time to play now. She looked at him; a deep, naughty smile. She pushed him away and walked to his bed. She vanished away her clothes and lay on the bed; Ready for him.

With her eyes closed she felt Snape lie on top of her, take her wrists and hold them above her head whilst his other hand grabbed her chest roughly. She moaned and moved her head upwards, exposing her neck to him. He moved his lips to the side of it and bit it quickly – then looking back to her he checked if he had done the right thing. She had her eyes closed with a beautiful smile on her face.

Suddenly she winced. A memory of Lucius flashed through her mind… The way he had pressed his cold, dry lips against hers right before he had bitten her. His cold hands on her chest and all she could do was cry.  
She pulled away from Severus.

"What's wrong?" The dark professor looked at her inquisitively. He looked a little hurt.

Hermione sat up,

"I can't…" Hermione got up from under him and pointed her wand at her bare torso, the clothes that she had vanished before, now lined her body and without looking back she left the dungeons physically sick.

Severus sat on the edge of his bed. Was he that disgusting? Maybe it his broken body? Reminders of the war; his chest was tight… he looked down and scrunched his face up in pain. His heart hurt; like it had when Lily had turned him down. He felt used, rejected. He had let Hermione in, he hadn't let anyone near him like that… ever.

That was it. He wasn't doing this again. He didn't want anyone near him, physically or emotionally.

Hermione had broken him and he didn't want her to fix him.


	9. Chapter 9  First Day At School

**Chapter 9 – First Day at School**

Hermione woke in a cold sweat, she had been dreaming about Lucius again. She picked up her wand and waved it in the air; small streams of blue ribbon drifted out of the wand and formed the time in front of her; 9:00am then dissolved into nothing.  
The tired professor pushed herself out of bed and into the shower. Standing under the warm streams she thought about last night. Hermione stared out of the window opposite the shower onto the Great Lake; she had really messed up but she didn't want anyone touching her, the weight of what Lucius had done had leaked into her veins and caused her heart to stop. She wanted desperately to forget the scars that Lucius had put on her physically and mentally, to let Severus kiss her without thinking about that blonde haired bastard. He had ruined her. Most of all he may have ruined her chances with the only man she'd ever sincerely wanted to be with. She was sure that she could sort it out with Severus tomorrow – he would understand, right?  
Reluctantly she left the shower and got into her clothes for the day. Hermione looked into the wardrobe and decided on a tight fitting black knee length skirt, a sky blue shirt and some black heels. As she left her room she threw her black robe over the top and placed her wand inside it, this would be her first day of teaching, her first day undercover.

Snape woke up at five o'clock and stared at his ceiling. He didn't want to move, he didn't want to breathe, he didn't want to live – just to lie there motionless, no-one bothering him but eventually he fell back asleep only to wake up 5 minutes before breakfast. He breathed to calm himself; he would have to see _her _at breakfast. Snape's chest tightened as he considered the beautiful witch and how he'd lost her. He magically washed and dressed himself – physically unable to move more than a foot from his bed. Well, at least he could go back to being himself – except he had never felt this bad… not even when Lily died. He'd been rejected by the only witch he'd ever seriously considered being with.

Walking down through the school he found the usual stares of the students but not just the first years… even the 7th years. Surely they were used to his glares and social demeanour? Well, fine, as if anything could get worse? Now he had the stupid staring of the teenage masses that he taught on a daily basis.  
Severus sweeped down the middle of the four tables towards the top table; he took a cursory glance across the table and there she was. His witch. He looked to long and she raised her head to meet his; even though he was completely unaware, he stopped moving. His gliding stopped and the two broken people just bled into each other. Their eyes met in a powerful way, it wasn't in a way that meant they had forgiven or forgotten but more an exchange or understanding that the other had completely wrecked the other.  
Even from in front of the top table her eyes were possibly more pronounced than he had ever seen them. They just voiced her pain but Severus looked passed this – this was a woman who wanted to get into his head just to mess him up and drop him. Severus looked away disgusted and continued his walk towards the table. Students were still staring at the two professor's trying to decipher what had been communicated between the two people. As Snape sat down he realised it wasn't just the students that were lost, McGonagall looked at him, highly confused.  
This was to be the beginning of a terrible day.

The way he had looked at her made her skin crawl. Hermione recalled his face, he hated her. She thought he would have been angry about last night but nothing like this.

"Professor?" called Dumbledore from her left side,

Hermione blinked and looked up into the wizard's warm eyes,

"Headmaster?" she replied. 

"What troubles you?"

She coughed to buy herself some time and looked down,

"Just thinking about classes today, that's all." She smiled as her insides contorted with the pain of lying.

"Then why are you crying?" She couldn't lie to the wise wizard, yet she pursued her previous comment.

Hermione brought a hand to her face and sure enough there was a tear on her left cheek.

"I'm just nervous." She smiled again.

Dumbledore looked into her eyes; he knew she wasn't nervous because actually, she wasn't, not at all. It was common knowledge that she had wanted to teach yet had been forced into being an Auror, which was what was 'expected' of her after the second war. Dumbledore knew she wasn't okay and he knew it was because of Severus.

Harry sat in his room in the unmarked house in Hogsmeade, bored. He had nothing to do but wait, wait for something he didn't want to happen to take place.

Next to him Hedwig landed gracefully on the table with a letter in her mouth, it was from Laura, Fleur and Bill's daughter – she was in her 2nd year at Hogwarts.

It read,

Harry,

Snape's gone mad.

Love,  
Laura.

He wrote back,

Laura,

What's he gone and done now?

Harry.

He waited for hours for her return then he received this,

Harry,

This morning at breakfast everyone saw it. Hermione and Professor Snape looked at each other really weirdly. Then he gave her this horrible look, like he wanted to kill her and sat at the table. He wouldn't talk to professor McGonagall… I may have listening in on a conversation between her and Flitwick (please don't be mad), he wouldn't talk to anyone.  
In class today he was disgusting. He nearly hexed my friend when he dropped some leaves on the floor. By the end of my class he had taken 200 points from Gryffindor and even 50 from Slytherin. He wasn't just being Snape he was vicious.  
Please talk to Hermione.

Laura.

Harry had replied that he would and left for the castle. He got to the gates and sent his Patronus to Dumbledore, within minutes the gates opened for him. 


	10. Chapter 10  Fix Me

**Chapter 10 – Fix me**

Hermione explained everything to Harry and he listened but what could he do? Nothing. All he could do was be there for her and so he returned to Hogsmeade feeling uneasy with his best friends emotional state.

Hermione had felt a little lighter for telling Harry but now she had to try. She wanted to make everything better and knowing who Snape was – he certainly wasn't going to sort it out and so, she got up out of her study and left for the dungeons.

-

Snape sat at his study marking the mediocre work he had received from his 7th years putting Hermione severely out of his mind. He had just marked down and F- on an essay that was quite frankly pathetic when he heard a little knock on the door. He ignored it and returned to the work but the knock came again.

"What?" He shouted from his study and the door opened.

She entered.

"Get out." Snape spat, Hermione stopped in her tracks and looked at him pleadingly. Snape's heart stopped, why did she have this ability to make him do what she wanted?

He sighed and put his papers aside,

Hermione stared at Snape, she knew she had to be here, to fix things but she hadn't really thought of anything to say…

"What is it? What could you possibly want?" he looked at her and her chest tightened he looked so pained.

Hermione stood there motionless just staring at Severus.

"I love you." She burst out with and then put her hand over her mouth.

Snape got up from his chair and leaned his hands on the desk, looking down. Hermione walked towards his desk in the dark dungeon and stood on the other side of the desk, she put her hand under his chin and lifted his face up so that her eyes connected with his.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, I jus-" Snape cut her off,

"Then what was it? You had me Hermione; I placed myself in your hands and you…" Hermione touched the side of his face as the end of his sentence faded away.

"It's Lucius," Snape pulled away from her so that the two Professors stood opposite each other, "It's hard for me to… to be… all I can think about is him, when you kiss me, when you touch me…"

Snape recoiled, "I remind you of someone who tortured you?" Severus began to shout but Hermione put her hand on his chest and silenced him.

"Severus, I want you to understand. I want to be with you, I do but every time you kiss me it just takes me back to then. It's not you, it's him. He's scarred me and honestly I'm trying to fix myself, it's so hard." Hermione looked him directly in the eye as sincerely as she could.

"Then what are we going to do..? What do you want me to do?" Snape Sighed.

"I want to be with you but you're going to have to understand and take it slow." Hermione responded.

Snape moved from the other side of the table and took the DADA teacher in his arms resting her head on his shoulder. He was an idiot but now he was an idiot with someone who didn't care about that.


End file.
